Ukraine: Villagers Say They Saw Missile Just Before Civilian Jet Was Shot Down

By Reuters

March 12, 2015

Villagers in eastern Ukraine have said they saw a missile flying directly overhead just before a Malaysian airliner was shot down last July, providing the most detailed accounts to date that suggest that the missile was fired from territory held by pro-Russian rebels. The accounts given to Reuters by four residents of Chervonyi Zhovten, which was then, and is now, controlled by the rebels, indicate that they saw the missile in the early stages of its flight path. That would mean it must have been launched from rebel ground nearby, challenging the claims of Moscow and the separatists that the plane was shot down by Ukraine’s military. At the time, the nearest Ukrainian-held area was about 3.7 miles away. None of the villagers saw the missile being launched, but Ukraine and its Western allies have said the rebels shot down the airliner. All 298 people on board were killed. A Kremlin spokesman said a Dutch-led international investigation would determine what happened.

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